Hi Guys,
 
So i went out to start the car this morning after sitting there for a few days, and for some reason the charge light is not behaving.
 
Usual behavior is that the charge light will come on (with the park brake light) when i turn the car to accessories, and will then go over after i start it. But now its not even coming on when i turn to accessories.
 
I started the car, and turned on all the things i could (radio, heater, high beams etc), and the charge light did flick on, but as soon as i gave it a rev it went away (this tells me the globe for the light itself is OK)
 
I tested the voltage while charging and it was down around 12.09 V. I would have thought it should be higher than that.
 
Anyway, can anyone think of any reasons why the charge light might not be coming on when i turn on the accessories.
 
Also - just as a side note, is the brake warning light also meant to come on with accessories?.
 
Dave
 

Pretty sure the charge voltage should be around 14v or so.  Remove the charge light wire from alternator and test it to make sure there are no shorts in the system.
 
Brake warning light should come on with accessories.
 
Cheers,
 
Matt 
 
 

The charge light wire coming off the back of the alternator I was not aware of.
The fact that the alternator is now common to both these problems (charge being down and charge light not working properly).....could this point to the alternator being the issue?.

I have nice thick wires earthing the battery to the chassis.

Dave

The charge light is the excitation to  the alternator which makes the alternator work.

Sorry knightime....I'm not following what that actually means?

Does that mean without the charge light working, the alternator won't charge?. Surely I must have that wrong?

Dave

Yea Dave if the charge light doesn't the alternator won't work.
 
Peter

Thanks peter.

Any pointers as to what the problem could possibly be?

Dave

Check the charge across the battery and that'll tell you if the alternator is rooted or not.
 
May be the regulator????
 
Matt
 
 

Yeah the charge across the battery is fading. IE when the car is running there is apparently no charge and the voltage of the battery continues to drop. It also does not change with an increase in revs.

I had another alternator lying around so just tried that with no difference.

They are Bosch alternators.........no external regulator?. Would also seems a bit odd that both alternators are buggered. The original one was working fine two days ago and showed no signs of deterioration.

Stumped!

Dave

Check the fuses Dave. 
 
Cheers, Craig.